Matt Biondi looks back, ahead at his life as famous Olympic swimmer

LONDON –Catching up with Olympic swim star Matt Biondi always is interesting. Biondi, 46, came out of Campolindo High in Moraga to become an 11-time Olympic medalist and the star of the Seoul Games in 1988.

Biondi won the 100-meter freestyle in Seoul and until Wednesday night no American could duplicate the effort. Not Gary Hall Jr., nor Michael Phelps or any other great U.S. sprinter.

Twenty four years later another Cal athlete finally did it – Nathan Adrian out-touched Australian star James Magnussen at the wall to win the gold medal at the London Games.

Biondi, who is returning to California in the coming weeks after teaching math in Hawaii for almost a decade, expressed happiness for Adrian but more because he’s from Cal.

“I look more for the quality of the individual, and Nathan certainly is a great person,” said Biondi, who will coach swimming and teach at Sierra Canyon High in Chatsworth.

Biondi appreciates how much more professional swimming has become since his day. He led a campaign to allow the “amateurs” to make enough to continue at a world-class level. Some might take that for granted now but they should give Biondi some credit for how the sport has advanced.

“Sometimes these things take time,” said Biondi, who donated all of his medals in 1994 to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago.

“I’m so far removed from swimming these days,” said the man who broke 12 world records in his day.

He does question how specialized the sprints have become. Only a few like France’s Yannick Agnel are versatile enough to compete for medals in the 100 and 200 freestyles.

In Biondi’s day the sprinters also were expected to enter the 50 sprint.

Upon reflection, the Bay Area Olympian still has much to savor from his time in the pool.

Elliott Almond

I am the soccer, Olympics and college sports reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. The Sochi Games were my 11th Olympics. I have covered MLS and the San Jose Earthquakes since 2008. I covered FIFA at the 1994 World Cup for the Los Angeles Times. I also am the author of Surfing, Mastering Waves from Basic to Intermediate. Having spent a lot of time in Patagonia I like South American futbol, especially Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.